A crowd of about 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered late Wednesday outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue, chanting for an intifada and heckling Jewish attendees arriving for an event hosted by Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that helps Jews immigrate to Israel.
The protesters, including activists from groups such as Within Our Lifetime and Jewish Voice for Peace, filled East 67th Street while chanting, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” “No peace on stolen land,” and “We don’t want no two states, we want ’48,” a reference widely interpreted as a call to eliminate Israel. NYPD officers maintained barricades around the permitted demonstration, and no arrests were reported.
The mob obstructed the view of the synagogue entrance, which is shared with the Park East Day School, and several witnesses said protesters hurled insults at Jewish community members entering the building.
The setting added emotional weight. Park East’s senior rabbi, Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor who witnessed Kristallnacht, leads the historic Orthodox congregation. Congregant Elizabeth Pipko said the confrontation threatened what should be a safe space, especially for young children.
Jewish groups condemned the chants as antisemitic and dangerous, warning they echo rhetoric used in past violent uprisings and come amid a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across New York since October 2023.